Never Ending

Explanations

After his long talk with his mother, Kostas let out a weary sigh. He had managed to make his mother promise that she would keep his "extraterrestrial" encounter a secret. 'That conversation seemed never ending.' Kostas thought as he went to check on his brother. When his knock went unanswered, he creaked open the door just far enough to see inside.

"You went four years without seeing me and now you can't go a couple hours?" Korbin asked as he laid down his book.

"Again, didn't mean to do that." He retorted as he stepped inside and closed the door behind him. "Mom is calling for pizza so we'll be eating soon."

"Alright." Korbin said as he began feeling along the pages once again.

"So are you enjoying the book?" Hope lined his voice. "I know you've been wanting to read that book."

Korbin sighed as he once again redirected his attention to his brother. "I did want to read it back when I was eleven, but my tutor had already brought me a copy to read a long time ago."

"Oh." Kostas said as he looked down. So much had happened in his absence that he realized he could no longer be confident in his previous knowledge of his brother.

"But, I am enjoying it." Korbin smiled slightly.

Kostas looked back up with renewed hope as he saw Korbin put away his book and pat the bed, signaling for him to sit down. The two sat in an awkward silence, both trying to begin the conversation that they both knew needed to take place.

"You don't feel different." Korbin remarked. "Your presence, the way you talk--I would have expected them to have changed over the years but they haven't."

"Well," Kostas began as he looked at his younger brother sadly. "You've changed. Your voice, your hair, you're taller now--I'm left wondering where my baby brother went."

"Yeah. I know the feeling." Korbin replied grimly. "That nurse--the fire nurse--told me you would never be back. She said that you had found out my condition was truly hopeless and you had decided not to waste your time anymore. Of course, I didn't believe her. I knew that even if my situation was completely devoid of hope, you would still stay with me--I told her that too." Korbin lifted his head and shut his eyes. "Then, you didn't showed up the next day. I told her something had come up that you would be there tomorrow. I kept up with the same excuses for months, but eventually--I knew she had to be right."

Kostas felt as though his heart would break as he helplessly watched the tears stream down the boy's face. Just imagining his little brother's anguish brought tears to his own eyes. "Korbin--"

"It hurt that you had abandoned me." He continued. "Sure, Mom didn't come either, but she had never been faithful in visiting me--even when I was first admitted for pneumonia. You, on the other hand, had always been there for me; you had remained a constant in my life--but even you left me." Korbin buried his face in his hands.

Kostas quickly moved to wrap his arms around Korbin. To his surprise, the teenager allowed him. The two stayed in that position for a while before Korbin pulled away, wiping his face on his sleeve. Kostas handed him a tissue and waited for him to clean himself up.

Once he was done, Korbin was the first to speak. "Didn't that hurt you? I mean, with the scars or whatever?"

Kostas smiled while going back in for a hug. "Awwww. So you do care!"

"Shut up." Korbin said as he pushed Kostas away. "I'm sorry I ever asked."

"You know, you're not nearly as nice as you were." Kostas commented.

Korbin rolled his eyes. "I'm so sorry I didn't greet you with hugs and kisses. Do you want me to start kissing the ground you walk on?"

Kostas frowned. "And you've become very sarcastic. Where did you even learn that from?"

Korbin shrugged. "I spent a lot of time with the fire nurse over the years."

"Oh, good." Kostas said sarcastically as he got up.

"So," Korbin hesitated. "Where were you all those years if you didn't abandon me?"

Kostas let out a sigh. Of course, he had known this question would come up; however, he still wasn't sure how to answer it. "Well,"

"I swear if you mention anything about aliens I'm going back to hating you. I've heard enough of it from Mom on the few times that she did visit."

Kostas smiled softly. "Come on, you never hated me."

"I wanted to." Korbin replied, crossing his arms.

"I'm sure you did." Kostas let out a humorless chuckle. "However, the truth might seem just as stupid as the alien story."

Taking Korbin's silence as a signal to continue, he took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself. "So, you know that fire nurse? Well, her and the creatures you could see hurting you are demons."

"I knew it." He said with clenched fists.

Kostas paused. He really did not want to his brother to find out about the contract he had signed. He knew Korbin would only blame himself; arguing that he was the reason Kostas had made such an agreement.

"So what happened?" Korbin asked expectantly.

Kostas bit his lip, he needed to make a fast decision. "They kidnapped me."

"Really?" Korbin frowned worriedly. "Did they drag you to Hell?"

"Yeah. The fire nurse is like a babysitter for the younger demons--they call them hellions."

"So, the hellions are the reason for all your scars?"

"Yeah." Kostas answered, leaving off the fact that each scar he had earned was a different time  he had died.

Without warning, Korbin suddenly lunged at Kostas. "I'm sorry I listened to that demon; I should have known that you would never abandon me." Kostas could feel his brother's tears begin to soak through his shirt. Just as he had done when they were little, he wrapped his arms around him and offered words of comfort.

"Pizzas here!" Their mother yelled out.

"Come on." Kostas said as he moved to help Korbin clean up once again. "We don't want the pizza to get cold."

"Yeah." Korbin agreed as he smiled and hugged Kostas one last time. "I can't remember the last time I was so happy."

"Me neither." Kostas smiled contently, longing for the moment to never end.